Her Second First Time by Victoria Voss

I was asked to review this book, but the following review it my honest opinion.

Ever wish you could have a “do-over” of your first time? Carla never thought it was possible…that is, until she met Morgan. Carla was always straight as an arrow; in fact she had quite the reputation for being “easy.” But under the surface, what secret was Carla keeping from everyone, including herself? The day she walked into the Blue Moon something changed…she was no longer able to deny what she has wanted to do all along. Just how far is Carla willing to take things with the irresistibly hot bartender…will this be her “second” first time?

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I was pretty excited when I was asked to review this book. It is my first lesbian erotica book that I have reviewed. Actually, it was the first on that I have read, and it definitely has me looking into the genre.

Because it is a shorter story it just jumped into the action which was a little jarring, but the author did her best to try and fill in the details. She definitely had a lot of details that she wanted to add in about the characters and at times it was a little distracting, I wish the book was a longer book so that we would have time to get to know those details about the characters without the author having to interject them in... it just made it seem a little rushed.

Now the sex scenes were great, I liked them a lot. I have never read lesbian erotica before and so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the scenes were very hot. I really liked Morgan and how mischievous she was, it just made everything about the sex seem so fun. Every girl should go find a Morgan. And I actually found it interesting that Morgan seemed to be the more dominant partner, it was refreshing.

I enjoyed the story a lot. I wish there was a little more plot and background because it would be interesting to see more of who the characters are, but over all it was a solid piece of erotica.

Four out of Five stars for hot scenes and for turning me on to the genre!

By My Choice by Christine Blackthorn

I was asked to review this book, but the following review contains my own opinions and thoughts.

Sometimes the path of life seems inevitable — what does it mean to choose?



Jennifer Ashton has spent her whole life in one Supernatural court or the other but the realities of what this means are only brought home to her when her best friend is forced to sell her to a vampire, and not any vampire, but one she knows well. Caught in the double betrayal of friendship and love she needs to decide what her life is going to be.

Jennifer is a financial manager, her control over every aspect of her own life complete. She does not allow anything to upset her rationality, no emotion, no sensation, no desire. The only weakness she has accepted is her unlimited loyalty to her best friend, the friend who betrays her by selling her to a competitor. She joins her new master in Paris where she begins to realise that he has as little choice as she does. Can she accept that by giving up everything, by giving him everything, they might both regain their lives?

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When I was first asked to review this book, I made a little woops and didn't read the description before I opened the book, so by the cover I knew it must be a romance of some sort but that's about all I knew. So when vampires started popping up I was totally surprised. But I am glad I read the book.

I liked the book. I liked it a lot. I thought that the descriptions of the courts were interesting. At first I was really curious as to what was wrong with Jen, I thought she was going to be some kind of supernatural with a unique talent, I did not expect what she turned out to be. Adrian was a really interesting character. When the author brought up the picture of him and his sons it really made me want to read more. I also was really curious as to why Jen had to give up all of her belongings before going to Adrian's court. So there were a couple of missing pieces that weren't essential to the story, but that I was very curious about.

The one thing that I didn't like about the book was that at times it was a little rape-y. It made me a little uncomfortable at first, but then Adrian was like, I feel rape-y doing this, and that made it a bit better. That being said, I really liked the way that the scenes were written, it was really easy to picture what was written. I really wanted to see where the characters went, but then the book ended, maybe there is another one on the way.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. Give it a try!

Concubine by Jill Knowles

         This is another one of those books that I always passed over... Maybe it was because for a while I wasn't into the whole M/M thing, and sometimes I get tired of the BDSM thing too. But I was, once again, an idiot for skipping over this book. I really liked it! Which is surprising because dubious consent romance usually makes me a bit uncomfortable. Though I ended up looking upon this book as more of an arranged marriage kind of thing.

         Scholar, captain...war prize. Prince Kael of Korai is stunned when his father gives him to an enemy warlord in a desperate attempt to salvage Korai's reputation. With his country's honor at stake, Kael resolves to submit to Warlord Taren's every debauched whim.

         But life in Zandria isn't anything like what Kael imagined. Instead of pain and cruelty, Warlord Taren seduces Kael until the bewildered prince craves his Master's every intimate caress. As he sinks into the decadent, sensual life of a concubine, Kael makes a powerful enemy, one who wants him removed from Zandria by any means necessary. Betrayed by his body, trapped by his honor, Kael must learn to trust his Master or get them both killed.

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         The first thing that I want to say about this book is that I thought that Taren was really sexy. Not only did he have cool scales, but they were purple, which is my absolute favorite color, so I was inclined to like him right off the bat. I thought Kael was a little whiney and at first I was annoyed but then I reminded myself of the situation he was in and decided he deserved to be  whiney. It wasn't his choice to be a concubine, especially to another male. He deserved to be upset.

         I think that Knowles showcased a very interesting psychological struggle within Kael. He had to struggle with not wanting to submit to another man, his disgust with himself  for being interested in Taren, his fear of what was to come, and his need to preserve the honor of his country by giving in. I do think it is endearing how he likes being with Taren, and I think that Taren is amazing at handling the situation and doing his best to make Kael comfortable about adjusting into his new role in life.

Spoilers ahead! Beware! Go read the book then come back!

         I like how they ended up mating, but I didn't understand why the whole guild was dying to Taren as a customer. From what he said he never was interested in using the guild and he never enjoyed it, so I don't understand why they claimed that they were losing such a great customer. I also didn't like that Taren's past lover worked so close with him and that he tried to pursue a relationship with Taren even after he was obviously interested in Kael.

         I thought that the mastermind behind everything was a pretty good twist. I did not expect Mendon to be the killer. I didn't like him at first but then when he obviously disliked Taren's past lover as much as I did he began to grow on me, and he seemed to warm up to Kael so it really came as a surprise to me when he turned out to be the one behind everything. Or maybe I was just so wrapped up in the relationship between Taren and Kael that I might have missed some clues that Mendon was behind it all.

         I love how the beast within Taren recognized  Kael right away and that in giving into the beast and the man, Kael was freed from his own doubts and he was able to fully embrace the relationship. It was really steamy too, some very very sexual scenes, so it is not a book for the faint of heart. i give it a 4 out of 5 stars!

Broken Boundaries by Evangeline Anderson

         Yay! I'm back. It is kind of sad how long I have been gone. But first I was on vacation, then school started, then I got sick, and then time just seemed to slip away from me. So, today I was sitting in one of my boring lit classes and realized that I hadn't posted in a while and that it was time to fix that.

         I know that while I have reviewed some YA books on here, a lot of the books I review are romance and usually erotic (which is why it is kinda weird that my grandma insisted that I give her the url to my blog) and lately I have been exploring some strange categories of those genres. There will be many interesting reviews to come from gay love (which isn't that weird no matter what my boyfriend says) to sex with a spider. All to come soon. But I have rambled on enough about that, and now it is time to get to today's review! Yay! So, here is Broken Boundaries!

         Chaz is the youngest recruit the Academy has ever seen. Godlike reflexes and hawk eyes make him a natural gunner assigned to fly the futuristic ship with technology so advanced it’s still classified. But it takes a two-man crew and Chaz, the lone wolf, must have a partner.

         On his first day he meets Ferron, the most dangerous man at the Academy. The ice blue eyes and scarred face of the older cadet aren’t enough to scare Chaz. Nor are the rumors that Ferron killed his last partner. But when he finds out they are to be a team, his anxiety starts to mount.

         Tension climbs to a breaking point when Ferron informs him that in order to fly the Needle he and Chaz must have their bodies pressed together in a dance of sensual intimacy that makes the sexually straight Chaz angry and uncomfortable.

         Ferron must master Chaz completely and break down his physical and emotional boundaries. The only thing that will keep them alive is their partnership—any space between them means certain death.

Click to view the book on Amazon: Broken Boundaries
 

         I liked the concept of this story a lot, in a weird way I can see how it would make sense to be extremely physically and emotionally close to your flight partner in a situation like battle, but I can also understand how it could freak new recruits out, especially male recruits. I just feel like men, young men, who consider themselves straight are very freaked out by anything even remotely homoerotic.

         I really liked Ferron, he was quite believable to me, but I was beyond annoyed by Chaz. First off what kind of name is Chaz? It sounds like cheese, and it doesn't really lend much confidence in his intelligence. And he is apparently a really smart guy... but he such a jerk. He was the one who wanted to become a needle gunner more than anything, enough to leave his family behind and give up a full ride to a good school. I feel like if you want it that badly, you just suck it up and deal with what your mentor tells you to do. Maybe that is just me. I guess if I was in his situation I would be a little uncomfortable being all hot and heavy with another girl, but I wouldn't fight against it as much as he had, especially if I had spent most of my life dreaming about being a needle gunner. But, guys must be more skittish about stuff like that because it threatens their manhood, or something.

         Another thing that bothered me was the slutty, super effeminate gay competition. I guess in hetero books there are usually slutty female characters, but this guy was ridiculous, talking about taking it up the ass all the time and how everyone wanted him... I don't know, it drove me crazy, maybe because I have never met someone, male or female, who acted like that. Are there even real people in the world who are like that?

         But those things aside, I actually thought that it was a very realistic love story, in the sense that I think these characters actually got to know each other on a level that allowed for them to be comfortable with each other and their sexuality. On a side note: wtf was up with those lobster monsters? And how did they blow up the ship in a maneuver that had killed the previous pilot who tried it. Where the lobsters that stupid that they would fall for it again? And after being gone for decades, why did they decide to come back right then. I understand the lobsters were a tool to further the plot but it seemed pretty obvious that she was just using the aliens to get Chaz and Ferron to have sex.

         I liked it, and I hope to find other good m/m stories in the future to write about. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. Again, I am so sorry it has been so long since I have posted, I am going to try my best to catch up, I have midterms and then spring break so hopefully I can catch up then.